


Like A Mermaid's Tail

by mrs_vh



Category: IT (2017), IT - Stephen King
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), Breathplay, Drowning, Established Relationship, Gift Giving, M/M, Mermaids, Ocean, Secret Santa, Sort Of, Swimming, Underwater, blonde eddie, mermaid au, mermaid!eddie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-18
Updated: 2018-12-18
Packaged: 2019-09-22 11:15:56
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17058782
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mrs_vh/pseuds/mrs_vh
Summary: Richie meets Eddie for an early morning swim.





	Like A Mermaid's Tail

*

The air was warm and salty and there was the sound of waves rolling on the beach. 

Richie was sitting on the end of a long wooden dock that stuck out into an estuary. He could see the boardwalk, but the surrounding sand dunes made the area feel somewhat private. He waiting for Eddie to show up, his glasses pushed up his nose and his feet soaking in the water. His hand was held closed, a small personal object in his grasp. 

He had been wanting for Eddie to take him on this kind of adventure since they met, but never asked about it. After all, Richie didn’t want Eddie to think that was all he wanted out of their relationship. So when Eddie asked if he wanted to go for a swim together, Richie agreed eagerly. 

Something splashed in the water, several feet ahead of Richie. He sat up straighter to try and focus on what he saw, or thought he had seen, and that would be a large fin moving through the water. And again, the object moved up and flipped a bit like the tail of an irritated cat, colored a pale iridescent shade like the reflection on bath bubbles. 

It was shaped like a mermaid’s tail. 

There was a splash again, this time underneath the dock where Richie sat. He glanced down between his legs into the water and saw nothing for a few moments. And then suddenly, a pair of beautiful doe eyes were staring back up at him. Richie gasped as he jerked away, pulling his feet up onto the dock. 

Eddie was beneath the surface, just barely an inch of water over him as he watched Richie with interest. Richie could see his full length — soaked blonde curls down to his collar to the end of his tail fins. He could see Eddie’s naked body and how his lower half had shimmering scales sprinkled over his hips and lower belly, silver in the light. And his legs and feet were wrapped up in those scales, making the mermaid tail Richie had seen, with a feathery looking fringe up the front and around his hips. 

When Eddie broke the surface, he swept hands back over his blonde hair to wipe it away from his face and he smiled brightly up at Richie. "Aren’t you coming in?" Eddie said.

 Richie grinned back down at him. "I would, except I thought you were supposed to lure me in."

 "I’m supposed to _lure_ you in?" Eddie repeated in disbelief. 

Did Eddie really not understand what Richie was talking about? He had to understand the cliché mermaid ritual. "Don’t all mermaids have a song they use to lure humans in so they can drown them?" 

Eddie rolled his eyes playfully, understanding Richie’s reference. "That is a siren. They have siren songs and they use them to trap humans and drown them and eat them. But if you want me to sing..." 

He paused to clear his throat and thought of the song he wanted to use. And it was a beautiful lyric that he chose. 

" — _Oh how beautiful it used to be / Just you and me / Far beyond the sea / The waters scarce in motion / Quivering still_ — " 

Richie had heard Eddie sing before, but it was not a siren song. Eddie’s voice was just right for him, with the pitch fitting perfectly. Despite claiming to not use songs, there was still something about the song that did make Richie feel that intrigue when he heard Eddie sing. There was some kind of force that made him want to slide off the dock into the water or dive right in and swim out into the deep with Eddie. He felt himself leaning forward a little, as if preparing to go in. 

Instead, Richie stretched out on his belly and peered over the edge so he could look down at Eddie. He stretched his arm out to Eddie, who reached up for Richie’s hand and gave a gentle kiss to the knuckles of his pointer finger and middle finger. 

"Was that what you were expecting?" 

"It was. And I’ll come in with you now. But I have something to give you first." 

Eddie watched Richie extend his other hand to Eddie and opened it to reveal the item from his pocket. It was held cupped in the center of Richie’s palm, small and round and white, with a lovely shine to it. It was a pearl. 

"I heard that something about how you have to bring a gift to mermaids. You have to give them some kind of gift that they can find useful. Apparently the gift is so they won’t drown you...I don’t know. You probably know more about the story than I do. This just seems like the right thing to give to you now, when we did this..." Richie tried to explain. 

He ended up letting his words fade off, feeling like he sounded like an idiot. This was a moment he wanted to take seriously. It could be difficult for Richie to just _say_ what he thought and speak from the heart when humor was much easier for him to do. But Eddie didn’t seem irritated with or confused by his rambling. He was very touched by the gift, looking between the pearl and Richie for a few moments. 

"This is for me? Where did you get it?" Eddie asked. 

"It’s...uh, it’s my grandmother’s. It's probably the most important material item I own and I probably shouldn’t give it away like this, but...it makes sense to give it to the mermaid who...who I love." 

He watched as Eddie observed the small gem in his hand, tilting his palm slightly to let the pearl roll in the creases. "Thank you, Richie," Eddie finally said. 

Richie wanted desperately to kiss Eddie then, but that stupid dock was separating them. 

Eddie’s eyes were suddenly hazy and there was a pink flush on his cheeks. "Richie, I don’t want to drown you. I never would. I want to do this with you because I love you." 

A little shiver made its way up his spine and Richie swallowed, suddenly feeling nervous. He didn’t want to sound like he was questioning Eddie, but this moment had so much riding on it. "Are you sure you know what you’re doing? You really, _r_ _eally_ aren’t going to drown me?" 

"I have to take your breath away and then I will give you my own. It will feel like you’re drowning, Richie." 

"I — I can’t see underwater, Eds. And I can hardly see out of water without my glasses, so how am I supposed to see underwater? You know that salt water burns my eyes, right? And I’m not a very good swimmer anyway and there are sharks in the water, and then there’s — "

"Richie — " Eddie interrupted in a patient tone. "I will take care of everything. You don’t have to worry about anything because I won’t let anything happen to you. I promise." 

It would be worth the pain to be with Eddie like this. If this was how it had to happen, then Richie was going to do it. 

"Let’s do this," Richie told Eddie. And with that, Eddie nodded and turned back into the water. His tail skimmed right beneath the surface as he swam away, a casual flick of his fins splashing the water. 

It took a moment for Richie’s brain and body to connect, because he was so distracted by the curvy shape of Eddie. But when the connection was made, he stumbled to his feet to cross his arms over his chest and pulled off his tee. He then opened the button and zipper of his shorts and dropped them down to his ankles, then took off his glasses and tossed them on top of his clothes. When he was completely bare, he looked to see that Eddie was floating on his back, watching Richie. 

With a little smile on his face, Richie jumped off the dock into the water with Eddie. It was surprisingly clear for beach water, where they could see the grains of sand underneath. Richie moved towards his mermaid, wrapping his arms around Eddie’s shoulders and his legs around Eddie’s waist for support. There was a rough scratch of scales against Richie’s thighs and calves, but he was more focused on kissing Eddie. 

Eddie returned the kiss so eagerly. Richie tasted sweet and delicious and Eddie just wanted to _devour_ him. His arms wrapped around Richie’s waist and squeezed tight. He nuzzled their noses together before going back in for another kiss. There was hardly a drop of ocean water between their naked bodies, as they clung so tightly to each other as if one might float away. 

Eddie’s tail worked hard to keep them afloat and one of Eddie’s hands tangled in Richie’s hair to hold him still. He needed to have Richie like this for their swim to start. "Just focus on me. I’m going to do it now."

"Okay. Do it."

Their mouths opened together and Richie could hear the whispering sound of Eddie sucking out the first breath. He tried to focus on the softness of Eddie’s lips and Eddie’s grip on him, a heavy lick of tongue to seal them together. Richie tried to think about the pearl he had given to Eddie and what this swim would mean for them.

 _I can’t fucking breathe!_ he realized.

Richie let himself watch Eddie, who kept his own eyes closed. It felt like a long time for Eddie to finish taking the breath, but finally those deep beautiful eyes finally fluttered open and the seal of their lips broke. Richie went to refresh his breath, but found that his chest was suddenly tight and his lungs seemed frozen in place.

When Eddie looked at Richie, he saw there was a blue-ish tint easing over Richie’s body and his eyes were wide open with panic. Eddie had to remind himself that this was normal.

"Where’s the pearl?" Richie wheezed. He had to know that Eddie still had it.

"I have it, Richie, don’t worry," Eddie told him. He gave Richie a soft smile of encouragement, ignoring the single tear down his own cheek. "One more and it will be over."

This time Richie felt it in his lungs, how they ached so hard inside his chest. He could feel that burn, that desperation to breathe. He tried to focus on Eddie right before him, all the drenched blonde hair, the sprinkle of freckles on his face, that rough feel of Eddie’s scales on him. Richie’s chest was throbbing as they sank into the water together. It was the most painful experience of his life.

 _This is it, this is how it happens, I’m fucking drowning_ —

But then he saw Eddie’s eyes open and he felt Eddie take his hand, placing it gently to the length of Eddie’s neck. And Richie felt the slits, the flaps in Eddie’s skin that he realized were gills.

Eddie had let go of both Richie’s hands and moved away to let him swim underwater on his own. Richie grabbed for him, but Eddie gave his hands a gentle push and moved away. Richie struggled for a moment, but then realized two things then.

One, he could see so clearly underwater with no burn from the salt. And two, his chest was no longer in pain from holding his breath. He touched his neck as he had touched Eddie’s before, no gills. He could not explain this at all, but Richie could see and breathe underwater.

The water was a beautiful blue shade where they were and Richie could see every single grain of sand underwater. He didn’t have a tail like Eddie, but he felt a little more comfortable under the water. When Richie looked to Eddie, he saw how Eddie was watching him, so happy that Richie had finally joined in on something that the two had both wanted for so long.

_Let’s go swim._

He could hear Eddie in his head. Richie had forgotten that Eddie told him that was how mermaids communicate, via telepathy.

 _Where do you want to go?_ he thought back.

With a smile, Eddie took Richie’s hand and led them away.

Eddie led Richie out into deeper water so far from the beach that Richie had no idea where they were. All he knew was the thick patches of coral at the bottom and small fish all over, tropical plant life that they traveled through together. Richie would watch Eddie swim and saw how his body and tail gracefully worked together to propel them through the water. When they looked at each other, they would exchange wide beaming smiles.

Richie explored by himself, swimming along the ocean floor and peering into a small crevasse. There were rocks to hide behind to avoid an incredible group of jellyfish, billowing through the water like orange plastic bags. He watched an octopus use its loose, wiggly body to crawl across the floor in search of food. Eddie found up a crab and showed it to Richie with a sneaky grin, then immediately shoveled it into his mouth and ate it.

Looking around, Richie could see how amazing this was and how truly magnificent Eddie was. Richie couldn’t believe he was getting the chance to see all of this, up close without anything separating himself from it, like at an aquarium. And then he felt a swoosh of water like a whirlpool as Eddie curled his long tail around Richie, their hands held between their bodies. And while Richie was so happy he could cry, he was starting to get hungry.

Do _you want to go have breakfast? There’s a stand on the boardwalk where they make the most amazing pastries. I don’t think they have any fish pancakes or lobster muffins, but there might be something with kale in it_ , Richie teased.

Eddie smiled at Richie and leaned in for a kiss. Richie could see then that Eddie had his pearl on some sort of cord around his neck, wearing it close to his chest. Now he could cry and was somewhat grateful they were underwater.

 _Take me to get breakfast, please,_ Eddie told him.

_My pleasure. I love you._

_I love you._

*

**Author's Note:**

> This is for spazclaiire for the Rarepair Secret Santa. The request was for a mermaid!Reddie au with mermaid!Eddie. No stanverly, bichie, bevrichie??, beddie, mike x anyone other than Stan. Thank you for handling all my questions and for letting me write a ficlet for you. Happy holidays, my dear! Xo
> 
> Mermaid song lyric from "Turn Loose The Mermaids" by Nightwish.
> 
> Find me on tumblr @ mrs-vh


End file.
